Tuesday, November 06, 2012

I've put off the decision too long. But today, Tuesday November 6, I have had to make up my mind.

For many years I supported the same crowd. Everybody in my social circle did the same. We trusted them. They were on our side.

But in recent years things have changed. I have noticed that more and more of my friends have been switching their allegiance. At first there were just one or two, but there are some days when I feel like it is me who is the odd one out by continuing to be loyal to our old friends.

Some say it's about jobs. But I'm not so sure. American manufacturing jobs have been shipped to Asia. This is true. But I'm not convinced that either bunch is going to be able to change that. It's just the way things are.

Four years ago we were promised change. A new direction. Solutions to all the problems we had been bitching about. But we are still waiting for the change we hoped for.

At the end of the day it's all about money.

One lot is promising to continue take more and more money from people like me and give it to... ? I don't know who they want to give it too. Not people like me, for sure.

The other guy says he will take less money out of the pockets of people like me. Today, for the first time in my life, I have decided to go over to the dark side and give him my support.

Yes, people, I have finally switched. Today I place an order with Intensity Sails for a Laser "practice" sail, the first time in my life I have ever bought a non-class-legal Laser sail.

When you show up at a local frostbite fleet and you are the only person with a class legal sail, you know that the world has changed.

I've stuck with using only class legal sails for as long as I can (and of course I will use a legal sail for all regattas) but in pretty much all frostbite and club sailing around here the competition is between folk using old, worn legal sails and others using new, crisp (cheap) replica sails.

I know, I get it. It's just such a grey zone. What's stopping me from going into my loft and building a sail 1.5 times as big, slapping a starburst on it, and calling it a practice sail? Slippery slope...

It is a grey zone which is why I've resisted the change for so long. You and I know that a sail 1.5 times as big wouldn't sell even for club competition because everyone would know it was not remotely equal to official Laser sails and other replica sails, and no club would let people use it.

But if you were to go into your loft and build a sail that to all intents and purposes measured the same as an official Laser sail but was 0.1 knot faster... Then we really are on the slippery slope.

Agreed. I understand all of the arguments for and against, and the best argument for is that it gets more people on the water. I'm all in favor of that. But at the end of the day, the thing I love most about the Laser is that it is a one design class; the best sailor wins. I just prefer something that has been measured and deemed legal vs. something I know nothing about and hasn't gone through the rigors of being approved.

Grey zone indeed. What happens, when sail development moves to the "replica" sails? What happens, when you've developed a sailing style that works great with the replica sail, but gives you less than optimal performance with classed sails? I bet your sailmaker will love it when you ask him to make a classed replica of your replica, teehee...

Laser sailors do NOT want "development" in the sense of allowing an arms race between different sailmakers to produce the fastest sails. We sail Lasers because we like the strict one-design concept. We want the boats to be as near equal as they can be, so that the best sailor wins.

The use of "replica" sails is purely an economic issue. For various reasons, class legal sails are very expensive and wear out quickly. Over the last few years the much cheaper replica sails (which are, as far as anyone can really tell, almost identical in performance to the legal sails) have become more and more accepted for local club racing and frostbiting (at least in the area I live.) As a result more and more people can afford to race Lasers.

I have bought a replica sail purely to use in local fleets that allow them and for practice, and will continue to use an official Laser sail for all regattas.

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